Civil rights panel
tackles bias against
transgendered

4 people complained of
discrimination by their employer

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

Hawaii civil rights commissioners are considering whether they have the right to accept charges of sex discrimination based upon a complaint by a transgendered or transsexual person.

The question is being posed to provide an answer for four people who filed discrimination complaints against their employer two years ago. The five-member panel heard arguments yesterday on why they should or should not have jurisdiction and said a written ruling would be issued later.

"I can't see how you could argue that transgendered persons are not covered and say that sex discrimination because a woman wears pants is covered," said April Wilson-South, deputy executive director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. "And we're not saying that gender is taking the place of sex; we're saying that gender is part of sex.

"It's how you present your sexual identity to the world," Wilson-South said.

"The law only recognizes males and females," said attorney Richard Rand, whose firm Torkildson Katz Fonseca, Jaffe Moore & Hetherington represents the employer the complaints were filed against. The employer was not named during the proceeding. "It protects a person from discrimination based upon their anatomical characteristics."

Rand said, "The sex discrimination provisions of Hawaii law do not protect persons from discriminations based upon their self-selected gender."

In a letter to a Civil Rights Commission investigator dated Jan. 24, 2000, Rand asked that the charges against his client be dismissed because the commission "lacks jurisdiction over the charges because there is no recognized category of 'transgender' under either Hawaii or federal law."

Last month, commission Executive Director William Hoshijo filed a petition asking that commissioners rule on the matter and whether the state does have jurisdiction. Though Rand argued that such a decision would essentially change state law, commission attorneys said they sought only to clarify the law.

"You can't get rid of sex discrimination without protecting people that are being discriminated against because of their gender," said commission attorney Jayna Kim. "We just want confirmation that the law as it stands protects the people."

Several people who identified themselves as transgendered individuals observed the hearing, though they said they were not among those who filed the original complaints.

"Tell me a restroom that I can go to, and I will go," said Stacia Ohira, a Manoa resident employed by the state. "Whatever they want to call it -- sexual identity, gender, sex -- does that change your ability to perform your duty at work?"